Impact dyeing apparatus

ABSTRACT

IN THIS INVENTION A TOW IS PASSED UNDER TENSION AROUND A PORTION OF THE PERIPHERY OF A RESILIENT ROLL. A POROUS BELT EXTENDS AROUND THE RESILIENT ROLL IN A POSITION BETWEEN THE ROLL AND THE TOW, THE BELT CARRYING A SUPPLY OF A SUITABLE DYE. AT A POINT WHERE THE BELT IS SANDWICHED BETWEEN THE ROLL AND THE TOW A SUITABLE MECHANISM APPLIES IMPACT FORCES TO THE TOW AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED TO DRIVE THE DYE FROM THE BELT THROUGH THE TOW.

Oct. 19, 1971 J. G. T. PATERSON IMPACT DYEING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 31, 1969 INVENTOR. JAMES G. T. PATERSON M 044 ATTORNEY Oct. 19, 197] PATERSQN 3,613,408

IMPACT DYEING APPARATUS Filed July 31. 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. JAMES G.T. PATERSON Witw- A TTORNE Y United States Patent 3,613,408 IMPACT DYEING APPARATUS James G. T. Paterson, Decatur, Ala., assignor to Monsanto Company, St. Louis, Mo. Filed July 31, 1969, Ser. No. 846,534 Int. Cl. D061? 35/00 US. Cl. 68204 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE In this invention a tow is passed under tension around a portion of the periphery of a resilient roll. A porous belt extends around the resilient roll in a position between the roll and the tOlW, the bel carrying a supply of a suitable dye. At a point where the belt is sandwiched between the roll and the tow a suitable mechanism applies impact forces to the tow at a high rate of speed to drive the dye from the belt through the tow.

This invention relates to dyeing apparatus and more particularly to apparatus for impact dyeing a moving tow.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the conventional process of dyeing a tow, the tow is immersed in a bath containing a suitable dyestufi and kept there until the proper dyeing action takes place. Subsequent treatment of the tow includes the drying thereof. Disadvantages of this process are that great amounts of water are required and a considerable amount of energy is required for drying the tow. In the present invention, both of these disadvantages are overcome.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a novel and improved dyeing apparatus.

Another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus for continuous dyeing of a tow.

A further object of this invention is to provide an apparatus for impact dy'eing of a tow.

Another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus for continuously dyeing a tow by applying impact forces to the tow to drive a dye from a porous dye-carrying element into the tow.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent when the following detailed description is read in conjunction with the drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a side view showing the relationship of the elements of apparatus,

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view showing that portion of the apparatus which applies the dye to the tow, and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a fragment of the screen used to carry a dye.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, there is shown a frame 111 on which is rotatably mounted an impact roll 12, the impact roll 12 being made of a resilient material and having extending around the periphery thereof a groove 13 having a rectangular cross-sectional configwration. The roll 12 has a hollow toroidal configuration and is filled with air under pressure. A container 14 positioned at one end of the frame 11 carries a supply of tow 15 to be dyed, the tow 15 being a bundle of continuous synthetic filaments.

The tow 15 is advanced over a plurality of pins 18 which serve to tension the tow and guide it into the slot 13 in the impact roll 12. The tow 15 remains in contact with the impact roll along a portion of the periphery thereof and then is fed under a guide pin 19 and over a slip roll 20 into a take-up container 21. The slip roll 20 is driven at a constant speed by a motor 24 acting through belts 25 and 26 to feed the tow into the container 21.

A continuous, dye carrying belt 28 extends a round the Patented Oct. 19, 1971 impact roll 12 and passes over an idle roll 29 and a tensioning roll 30, the rolls 29 and 30 being mounted on the frame 11. The purpose of the belt 28, which is positioned in the groove 13 in the impact roll 12 between he impact roll and the tow 15, is to carry a supply of dye to the tow. The construction of the belt 28 is best illustrated in FIG. 3. The belt 28 is provided with an impervious backing layer 32 which contacts the bottom of the groove 13 in the impact roll 12. Secured to the backing layer 32 are a plurality of porous cells made of felt or a similar material, the cells 33 being separated by impervious partitions 34. The purpose of the impervious partitions 34 is to prevent migration of a liquid dye from one of the cells 33 to another. The open faces of the cells 33 will of course be in contact with the tow 15 as it passes over the impact roll I12.

The cells 33 are filled with a liquid dye at a point spaced from the impact roll 12. While this may be accomplished in several ways, the drawing shows a tank 36 connected to an air supply line 37 and having an outlet line 38 connected to a spray nozzle 39. Air passing through the line 37 and the tank 36 picks up the dye and forces it out of the nozzle 39 onto the dye belt 28, as best illustrated in FIG. 2.

The impact roll12 is driven by a pair of resilient rolls 40 mounted on a bracket 41 and positioned in the groove 13 on the tow 15. The rolls 40 are in turn driven by a drive roll 42 which is driven by the motor 24 acting through the belt 25 and a belt 45. The bracket 41 is pivotally mounted on a lever 46 so that when the lever 46, which is pivoted to the frame at point 47, is urged toward the impact roll 12 the rolls 40 each engage the impact roll 12 with equal force. A spring 47 connected between the upper end of the lever 46 and the frame 11 urges the lever 46 toward the impact roll 12 to maintain a good driving contact between the rolls 40 and the roll 12.

An impacting mechanism 50 mounted on the frame (11 is provided for applying impact forces to the tow 15 to drive the dye from the cells 13 into the tow. In the embodiment shown, the impacting mechanism 50 takes the form of an air hammer 5'11 having a chisel-like blade 52 which is reciprocated at high speed to apply impact forces to the tow and the porous belt 28. The end of the blade 52 is flat, so that the filaments in the tow are not cut or damaged as the impact forces are applied.

In operation of the apparatus, the motor 24 acts through the belts 25, 26 and 45 to drive the slip roll 20 and the drive rolls 40. The drive rolls 40, in contact with the tow 15 in the groove 13, drive the impact roll 12 to advance the tow 15 and the oporous belt 28.

AS the porous cells 313 in the belt 28' pass the nozzle 29 they are filled with a liquid dye of a well known type. As the impact roll continues to rotate the filled cells 3-3 are carried into contact with the tow 15 at the uppermost portion of the roll 12 adjacent to the impacting mechanism 50.

The blade or hammer 52 of the impacting mechanism 50 applies sharp impact forces at a high rate of speed to the tow 15 at a point where the tow 15 is in contact with the cells 33 of the belt 28. These high impact forces drive the dye from the cells 33 into and through the tow 15. The tow containing the dye may be treated in whatever way desirable to complete the dyeing of the tow.

It can readily be seen that with this apparatus very little water is used or needed in this dyeing operation. Consequently, no great amount of energy is needed to remove the moisture from the dyed tow.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for dyeing a tow of continuous filaments, comprising '(a) a frame (b) an impact roll rotatably mounted on the frame and having in the periphery thereof a slot,

(c) a continuous porous belt extending around the impact roll and having at least a portion thereof positioned in the slot in said impact roll, said porous belt having a plurality of porous cells for holding a dye, said cells being separated from each other by impervious partitions,

(d) means positioned adjacent to the porous belt for applying a dye thereto,

(e) means on the frame for guiding a tow of filaments into the slot in the impact roll to contact said portion of said belt,

(f) means on the frame for driving the impact roll and the belt, and

(g) means on the frame for applying impact forces to the tow positioned in contact with the belt to drive 1 the coloring agent from the belt into the tow.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the driving means comprises a driven roll positioned in the slot in the impact roll in contact with the tow.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the cross-sectional area of each cell is no greater than about /2 square inch.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the tow guide means comprises a tensioning device, and the driving 4 means comprises a driven roller positioned to nip the impact roll with the belt and the tow therebetween, said roller and said tensioning device being on opposite sides of the impact applying means and cooperating with each other to tension the tow.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the impact roll is resilient and has a hollow toroidal configuration and is filled with a fluid under pressure, said roll also having around the periphery thereof a groove for receiving the belt and the tow.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 825,693 7/1906 Baeck 101-178 1,006,502 10/1911 Rossiter 68-204 X 1,787,385 12/1930 Maly 68-204 2,810,216 10/1957 Greer 68-13 X 3,331,391 4/1967 Hyjek 197-172 3,421,611 1/1969 Spreter 197-49 NILE C. BYERS, JR., Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

